Shuttle guard attachment



March 12, 1957 J, L. ROBERGE SHUTTLE GUARD ATTACHMENT Filed April 12, 1954 l il INVENTOR JOSEPH L. ROBERGE HIS ATTORNEYS,

United tats 2,784,744 Patented Mar. 12, 1957 SHUTTLE GUARD ATTACHMENT Joseph L. Roberge, North Providence, R. L, assignor to Kanmak Textiles, Inc., New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application April 12, 1954, Serial No. 422,307

3 Claims. (Cl. 139-193) This invention relates to an improved shuttle guard for looms.

In the operation of conventional looms, the shuttle which carries the bobbin across the warp threads travels with very high velocity. Frequently, the shuttle is de flected from its normal path, and this often results in injury to the operator of the machine or to a bystander.

An important object of this invention is to provide a shuttle guard which may readily be attached to the reed cap of a loom slightly outside the normal path of the shuttle, said shuttle guard being sized and positioned in such a manner that if the shuttle is deflected out of its normal path in a direction which may be hazardous to the operator of the loom or to a bystander, the shuttle will strike the shuttle guard.

Another important object of the invention is to provide a shuttle guard of this type which will prevent the shuttle from ricocheting off the guard after it strikes same.

Another important object of this invention is to provide a shuttle guard which is designed so as to prevent injury to the shuttle when it strikes the guard.

In accordance with my preferred embodiment of the invention, I provide a shuttle guard having a peripherally extending reed cap which is adapted to be fixed to the frame of the loom. A netting made of cord or the like is fixed to the frame of the guard so as to extend over the interior space thereof. When the shuttle is diverted from its normal path, the point of the shuttle enters one of the interstices of the network of cord. The body of the shuttle is then yieldingly. caught by the cord, the cord preferably yielding sufficiently to catch the shuttle and prevent ricocheting thereof, but not suffifficiently to permit the shuttle to travel all the way through the guard.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will become apparent from the following description, in conjunction with the annexed drawings, in which a preferred embodiment of my invention is disclosed.

The drawings are substantially to scale of a working model of the shuttle guard.

In the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a portion of a loom, showing my improved shuttle guard fixed to the reed cap.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the shuttle guard.

Fig. 3 is a section on line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Upon reference to the drawings in detail, and in particular to Figs. 2 and 3 thereof, it will be noted that the improved shuttle guard has a metal frame 11. This frame 11 is preferably tubular in cross-section, extends entirely around the periphery of the guard, and is substantially located in a single plane. The outline shape of frame 11 may be varied, depending upon the structure of the loom reed cap to which it is to be attached.

In the working model shown, frame 11 (when in its operating position of Fig. 1) has a generally horizontal upper arm 11a, a generally vertical front leg 11b and a generally horizontal lower front arm portion 11c. The

lower re'ar arm portion 11d of frame 11 is inclined rearwardly upwardly. The rear leg of frame 11 has a general ly vertical lower portion 11c and a generally vertical upper portion 11 said lower portion 11e being located forwardly of the upper portion 11 and being connected thereto by the connecting portion 11g.

The mounting plate 12 is fixed to the rear of the frame portion 11:: by means of solder 13, or by any other suitable means. This plate 12 is substantially rectangular in shape and extends in a direction which is generally perpendicular to the plane of frame 11. Said plate 12 has screw holes 14 on either side of frame 11, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3.

A netting 15, made of cord or the like, is attached to frame 11, said netting 15 extending over the entire face of the guard 10. Optionally and preferably, the cord is made of nylon, but the cord may be made of any other material so as to be extremely strong and yet flexible.

The netting 15 is preferably made from one or two lengths of cord which are looped over frame 11 at regularly spaced intervals, said loops being respectively designated by the reference numeral 16. The cord is also criss-crossed over itself within the interior space of frame 11 so as to form a net having interstices 17. Preferably, the junctions of the cord are knotted, said knots being designated by the reference numeral 18. Preferably, also, knots are formed in the cord adjacent the loops 16, these further knots being designated by the reference numeral 19.

The netting 15 is formed so as to be quite taut, and the various knots 18 and 19 at the various intersections of the cord assist in maintaining the general tautness of the netting 15. Except adjacent the frame 11, the interstices 17 of the netting 15 are of approximately the same size. Said interstices 17 are approximately square, and the segments of cord bordering the respective interstices are approximately one inch long, except adjacent frame 11.

Since the cord is knotted at either 18 or 19 at each of the four corners of each of the interstices 17, it is not possible for any of the interstices 17 to be greatly enlarged if the shuttle is driven into said interstice.

Fig. 1 shows a portion of a conventional loom 20. Said loom 20 will not be described in detail. Fig. 1 shows the shed 21 having an upper set of warp threads 21a and a lower set of warp threads 21b, said sets of warp threads diverging from front to rear. The shuttle 22 normally travels across the loom 20, through the shed 21 and accordingly between the upper set of warp threads 21a and the lower set of warp threads 21b. Said shuttle 22 has tapered end portions 23.

Fig. 1 shows one side of the loom 2i) and shows a shuttle guard 10 fixed to the reed cap 24 of the loom somewhat inwardly of the end of the shed which is shown in the drawing. It will be noted that as is custornary, said reed cap 24 extends across the machine and is located at the rear of shed 21 and just above the upper set of warp threads 21a. Mounting plate 12 is fixed to said reed cap 24, by means of screws 25 or the like. As shown in Fig. 1, the plane of shuttle guard 10 is perpendicular of the usual axis of movement of shuttle 22. The lower frame portions 11c and 11d are located quite close to the warp threads 21a, the inclination of the arm 11d generally corresponding to the inclination of the warp threads 21a.

Fig. l illustratively shows the shuttle 22 deflected upwardly from its normal path of movement as it moves from right to left. As shown in the drawing, the leading end portion 23 of shuttle 22 has moved upwardly from the shed 21, and just about to strike the shuttle guard 10. The area of the interstices 17 is greater than the area of the point of the shuttle end portion 23. Accordingly, the point of the shuttle enters an interstice l7 freely.- In the continued travel of the shuttle, the peripheral wall of the end portion 23 strikes the cord segments bordering the interstice 17. These segments, as well as the netting 15 as a whole, yield slightly, so as to absorb some of the momentum of shuttle 22. However, the netting 15 is sufficiently strong so that the shuttle 22 does not break through the netting, and the shuttle 22 is stopped by the netting. Furthermore, as a result of the fact that the end portion 23 of shuttle 22 is caught within the netting, the shuttle does not ricochet off the guard. Although the shuttle strikes the guard with considerable force, the bobbin is protected because the point of the shuttle passes through an opening of the netting.

Since the shuttle guard is positioned fairly close to one side of the loom 20, the 'area of the guard is sufficient so that it can catch the shuttle in any possible divergence upwardly or forwardly of the shuttle from its normal path. In the working model, the guard was approximately 9 inches wide and approximately 7% inches high, and was positioned inwardly of the side edge of the shed by a distance slightly greater than the length of the shuttle. Optionally and preferably, a second guard 10 is similarly mounted upon the loom at the other side thereof, said second guard and said other side of the loom being omitted in the drawing because the construction and manner of operation are identical.

I greatly prefer that the netting be somewhat flexible and resilient, and not rigid. I have found that if the netting is made of metal, the shuttle often ricochets off it. However, when the shuttle strikes an opening of the cord netting, the opening is enlarged, permitting the shuttle to move through the opening until the friction of the cord upon the shuttle overcomes the momentum of the shuttle. A yielding movement of the netting as a Whole also helps to absorb the impact of the shuttle.

While the shuttle guard has been described as being mounted upon the reed cap, it will be apparent that the shuttle guard may be suspended in any suitable manner so that it is held rigidly in place in position to intercept the shuttle in the event that it is deflected from its normal path of movement.

While I have disclosed a preferred embodiment of my invention and have indicated various changes, omissions and additions which may be made therein, it will be apparent that various other changes, additions and omissions may be made in the invention without departing from the spirit and scope thereof.

I claim:

1. A shuttle guard attachment for looms for mounting upon a loom in position to intercept a shuttle traveling out of its normal path of movement, said shuttle guard attachment comprising a rigid peripheral frame, means for fixedly attaching said frame to the reeds cap of said loom, and a flexible nettting attached to said frame and extending over the interior space thereof, said netting being made of cord which is knotted at the points of junction of the netting and which is also knotted at the points of attachment of the netting to the frame.

2. In combination with a loom having a reed cap and having a pointed shuttle and means for driving said shuttle in a free path across the loom, a shuttle guard attachment, said shuttle guard attachment comprising a rigid peripheral frame, and a flexible netting fixed to said frame and extending across said attachment, at least some of the openings of said netting being of greater area than the area of the pointed end of said shuttle but of less area than the cross-sectional area of the main body portion of the shuttle, the intersections of said netting being knotted and said netting being also knotted at the points of attachment of said frame, whereby to prevent excessive enlargement of said openings by the entry of said shuttle into same, said netting h'aving sufficient resilience to absorb at least a substantial part of the momentum of said shuttle, and means rigidly mounting said shuttle guard attachment on said reed cap in position for intercepting the point of said shuttle when said shuttle diverges from its normal path of movement.

3. A shuttle guard attachment for looms for mounting upon a loom in position to intercept a pointed shuttle traveling out of its normal path of movement, said shuttle guard attachment comprising a rigid peripheral frame, means for fixedly attaching said frame to the reed'cap of said loom, and a flexible netting attached to said frame and extending over the interior space thereof, at least the greater number of the openings of said netting being of greater area than the area of the pointed end of said shuttle but of less area than the cross-sectional area of the main body of the shuttle, the intersections of said netting being knotted and said netting being also knotted at the points of attachment to said frame, whereby to prevent excessive enlargement of said openings by the entry of said shuttle into same, said netting having sufficient resilience to absorb at least a substantial part of the momentum of said shuttle.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,106,510 Tyree et a1. Tan. 25, 1938 FOREIGN PATENTS 51,226 Germany Mar. 18, 1890 544,772 Germany Feb. 20, 1932 

